(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to communications networks. More specifically, the invention relates to management of broadband integrated systems permitting multiple traffic modes on a single physical transport link.
(2) Background
Communication systems have been trending towards systems that permit voice and data traffic to be combined on a single physical transport link at the customer premises. These systems, commonly referred to as digital subscriber lines (DSLs), offer many benefits at a cost of requiring complex equipment to be installed the customer premises. This equipment is referred to herein interchangeably as customer premise equipment (CPE) or an integrated access device (IAD). As the number of IADs installed at customer premises proliferates, the management costs of traditional management approaches become preclusive. This is particularly true since deployment of IADs into residences usually result in network deployments, at least in the tens of thousands of devices, and possibly, even in the millions of devices.
Today, individual access to a high-speed backbone may occur using a Multi-Service Access Platform (MSAP). The MSAP enables service providers to offer multiple services (such as voice and data) over a single access facility. Customers using IAD gain access to the MSAP, which is usually located at a central office. If an individual wants to access the internet through a workstation (or other computer systems), which is a port of a local area network, the person must establish a connection with an internet service provider through the IAD and the MSAP. The connection between a workstation and an internet service provider occurs through an IAD, which acts as a router. An MSAP may be located in the phone company central office as part of the network operations center (NOC).
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a typical prior art system in which a large number of IADs 110 communicate with a NOC 100. A management application 102 resides on the NOC 100 and is responsible for management of the IADs 110. Typically, the IADs would each be provided with an embedded simple network management protocol (SNMP) agent, thereby rendering the IADs manageable via SNMP. The logistics of such management would typically be left to the service provider. When following this approach, each IAD must have a globally unique internet protocol (IP) address for reachability. As the number of IADs grows arbitrarily large, IP address depletion may occur. Additionally, the NOC must have a direct link to each IAD. This link may be formed as an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) private virtual circuit (PVC). Unfortunately, this uses network resources to provide management paths to the IADs which negatively affects scalability of the system.